GravelMan Series Salagou

The Salagou edition of the GravelMan Series follows the series' simple idea: ride an unmarked GPS trace in full autonomy, managing your own food, water and repairs, with no race and no ranking. The tracking beacons are there for safety and so that friends and family can follow along, and the organisers' own motto sums it up: each rider their own distance, their own speed and their own adventure.

At the end of April the series heads to the Lac du Salagou, where the tracks cross the red earth known locally as ruffe and the blue lake appears suddenly between red hills. The organisers promise the first cicadas of the season, the smell of thyme crushed under the tyres and a hot coffee at the feed stop.

Riders pick a distance and a surface, gravel or road, from a short morning outing to an ultra that runs through the night. GravelMan also asks for a light footprint: dropping litter on the road or in nature can mean immediate exclusion.